Apple builds a plantation. Sharecroppers move in, deciding of their own free will that life working for "Massa" is good. A sign at the front gate says, "The first rule of the Apple Plantation is that Sharecroppers do not talk about the Apple Plantation." So the sign is still up and the Pragamatic Programmers are waiting untilt he sign comes down. Interesting, but not a single bit of new information. Must be a slow ne…
Hi Ragnwald didn't you plan on taking a break :)
Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
61–70 of 78 posts
Re: Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
The author did take a risk here, but the risk looked to be minimal upfront. It is amazing to that Apple continues to take this stance with their NDA. Any artificial barrier that cuts down on developer freedom and productivity will keep developers away from a platform. Yes, the author made the assumption that Apple understood that a level of openness is required take a platform's popularity to the next level.
Any artificial barrier that cuts down on developer freedom and productivity will keep developers away from a platform. Yes, the author made the assumption that Apple understood that a level of openness is required take a platform's popularity to the next level. This is a point I see over and over again. People who are not Apple managers telling Apple what Apple ought to do to run their business successfully. I apprec…
I did not claim that Apple would be more successful if I called the shots instead of Steve Jobs. I think that not one in a million could have staged such a successful resurgence as Steve Jobs has.
However, I believe Apple is harming their platform in this matter. It is possible that I am wrong and Apple will be better off with this decision.
In any case, some developers and authors are being due to their assumption that the platform would be more open. This will lead to many developers deciding to spend their work effort developing for other platforms.
Re: Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
It has nothing to do with people rehashing the same details over and over. It's has everything to do with Apple's actions with the things people are talking about. I don't like their tactics, and I don't like Apple putting their foot in developer's mouths by saying "we're going to make the decision on whether or not someone gets confused by our application versus yours" and then trying to silence anyone who says "I d…
The confusing part for me, is "What bit was unexpected?" If you develop for a controlled platform which has an approval process, you have risks. End of story. You don't call any shots, the owner of the platform - Apple - does. As an Apple consumer, I just don't care, and I'm sure the vast majority are the same. When Apple starts degrading the users experience, people will care. It certainly is getting very boring to…
Usually, when a company makes a consumer device, they either market it as an "experience" or as a "platform".
When a company is trying to sell a device as an "experience", it finds other large companies to partner with, and makes them all sign NDAs. The partner companies make legal agreements ahead of time so that both parties know what will be developed/accepted. Due to the cost and limited number of partners, only a few applications are made for the device, but they are high quality. This is the model used by game consoles and some mobile devices.
On the other hand, when a company tries to market a device as a "platform", it courts as many developers as it can, from big companies to hobbyists. Usually, the development tools and documentation are free. There are no NDAs to sign, no vetting process; developers create with the assurance that end-users will have access to their product, regardless of how crappy it is. This is the model used by personal computers and some mobile devices.
What is unusual is that Apple is pursuing neither strategy. They want developers to work without prior approval, but they also want to arbitrarily block distribution. They want developers to work on their own, but they also want to keep them from talking to each other.
This approach is unexpected from a device manufacturer. It was not unreasonable of the book authors to expect that Apple would have dropped the NDA by now, as it serves no purpose other than as a barrier of entry to development.
Re: Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
"They're acting in their own, and their customers best interests" I can´t see how the NDA helps their customers. While this Apple-hate thing has been blown out of proportion, the NDA thing is more than a little bit stupid.
The NDA is irrelevant to customers. I can't see how a customer would decide to buy based on wether the company uses NDA's for certain documents. I suppose you could argue that using an NDA might put off developers which would mean a lack of apps for the store, but customers don't care about what apps may have been rejected, they care about the apps they can use.
I don't think this is an overreaction. The NDA means that an iPhone developer can't legally blog about developing iPhone apps. That's a bit wild, isn't it?
Re: Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
#65This is outrageous. That's it, I am going to refrain from purchasing any and all Apple products from here on, am going to encourage others to do the same, and will also refrain from recommending their products to anyone.
Sometimes it feels lonely being an open source advocate, but reading this, there was a smirk on my face, and my first thought was "Told them so". I love it when people suffer for trusting big companies, its like their own fault, big co's are evil by definition, you should know better than to trust them. You con use their products, but trusting them, or even worse, to love them? In the expression "common sense", peopl…
I wouldn't go as far as what you're saying, but having only been an Apple user for 4 years (and a wannabe iPhone developer for 6 months), this was an eye-opening experience to me. I assumed that Microsoft was "evil" and Apple was "good". But it's far more complex than that. If this is how Apple treats developers, they deserve to lose them.
Re: Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
The NDA is irrelevant to customers. I can't see how a customer would decide to buy based on wether the company uses NDA's for certain documents. I suppose you could argue that using an NDA might put off developers which would mean a lack of apps for the store, but customers don't care about what apps may have been rejected, they care about the apps they can use.
I don't think this is an overreaction. The NDA means that an iPhone developer can't legally blog about developing iPhone apps. That's a bit wild, isn't it?
Yes it's wild, and I'm glad I'm not developing iPhone apps, but for me, that doesn't make Apple evil.
Re: Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
#67Re: Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any artificial barrier that cuts down on developer freedom and productivity will keep developers away from a platform. Yes, the author made the assumption that Apple understood that a level of openness is required take a platform's popularity to the next level. This is a point I see over and over again. People who are not Apple managers telling Apple what Apple ought to do to run their business successfully. I apprec…
I did not claim that Apple would be more successful if I called the shots instead of Steve Jobs. I think that not one in a million could have staged such a successful resurgence as Steve Jobs has. However, I believe Apple is harming their platform in this matter. It is possible that I am wrong and Apple will be better off with this decision. In any case, some developers and authors are being due to their assumption t…
Well, my personal opinion's that Apple are harming their platform in this matter as well. I know for a fact that many developers are shunning the platform because of actions like this. As a matter of fact, I shun developing directly for the platform because of similar actions in the past, like giving iTunes away and driving all the payware music players out of business. Or building the dashboard and driving Konfabulator over to Windows.
However, I stand by my assertion that given Apple's history and given the fact that there was an NDA in place when the book project was begun, there is no sympathy to give out here, nor is there any surprising "Who would have thought Apple would do this?" news.
In fact, nothing has changed since the NDA was first revealed. I say again, it will be newsworthy when the restrictions are lifted. Until then, it is like telling the world that Steve Jobs is tyrannical and abusive to his employees.
Re: Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
#69Where is Fake Steve Jobs when you need him?
Maybe Real Steve Jobs hired him to run iPhone developer relations.
Re: Apple blocks Pragmatic Programmers' release of iPhone book for developers
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sometimes it feels lonely being an open source advocate, but reading this, there was a smirk on my face, and my first thought was "Told them so". I love it when people suffer for trusting big companies, its like their own fault, big co's are evil by definition, you should know better than to trust them. You con use their products, but trusting them, or even worse, to love them? In the expression "common sense", peopl…
idiot
I assume that you couldn't find anything wrong with my post, so you attacked my personality instead.Your point is valid thou, surrounded by all the smart people in HN i feel kind of dumb. But my mental abilities are off topic.